Constantin Niţă

Niţă speaking to a Social Democratic Youth audience in Otopeni, September 2009

Constantin Niţă (born November 27, 1955) is a Romanian economist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Braşov County since 2000. In the Emil Boc cabinet, he was Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Business Environment from 2008 to 2009.

He is married and has one child.^[1]

Biography

He was born in Mirosloveşti, Iaşi County, attended primary school there, and completed secondary studies at Theoretical High School no. 1 in Paşcani in 1973. Following army service (1973-1974), he studied Industrial Economics at the University of Iaşi, graduating in 1978. From that year until 1983 he studied Law at the same institution. He took a post-graduate course in foreign trade from 1983 to 1984, and from 1995 to 1999 worked on a doctorate at Iaşi, earning one in Marketing. He has taken additional courses in Lugoj and Bucharest,^[1] and from 1998 to 2001 taught at the Transylvania University of Braşov; since 2001, he has taught Marketing at the George Bariţiu University of Braşov.^[2] Niţă has co-written five books on marketing and tourism, written one, and published over 50 articles in specialty magazines. His first job was as an economist from 1978 to 1983; he headed the export division at a truck factory in Braşov. From 1983 to 1986 he was also an economist at a motor vehicle import-export firm in Braşov, and from 1986 to 1993 headed a travel agency in that city. From 1990 to 1993 he was director of the Pîrîul Rece resort there, and from 1993 to 1997 he led an agency coordinating protocol visits to the Prahova Valley. From 1997 to 2000 he directed another Braşov travel agency. He belongs to a number of civic associations in his adopted city.^[1]

From 1994 to 1997, Niţă was vice president of the Braşov organisation of the PDSR, predecessor to the PSD.^[1] Since 1997 he has headed the Braşov County PSD chapter as well as been a member of the party's national council.^[2] He also sat on the party's executive bureau from 1998 to 2004,^[1] and was elected one of its vice presidents in 2010.^[3] He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2000, 2004 and 2008.^[4][5] In the Chamber, he was secretary on the permanent bureau in 2000-2003 and vice president in 2003-2004; among his assignments was as vice president of the joint parliamentary committee providing oversight to the activities of Serviciul Român de Informaţii (2004-2007).^[2] He drew attention for claiming boarding expenses of 832 million lei (some $26,000) in 2002, equal to at least 492 days at a hotel.^[6] Also that year, his name appeared on recordings of telephone conversations held by Sicilian Mafia bosses, who referred to him as being linked to their representative in Romania;^[7] Niţă categorically denied having links to the Mafia^[8] and sued former President Emil Constantinescu for making the transcripts public.^[7] He was named to the Boc cabinet in December 2008,^[9] delegating his Braşov party duties to others.^[10] As minister, Niţă predicted that nearly 40% of Romania's small and medium-sized businesses could go bankrupt due to the financial crisis;^[11] his priorities included unfreezing credits for them, simplifying their paperwork for obtaining European Union grants and devoting 0.4% of GDP to helping them and creating jobs there, and restructuring his ministry.^[12] Together with his PSD colleagues, Niţă resigned from the cabinet on October 1, 2009, in protest at the dismissal of vice prime minister and Interior Minister Dan Nica.^[13]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} (Romanian) Profile at the Romanian Government site; retrieved May 19, 2009
2. ^ ^{a b c} (Romanian) Profile at the Braşov County PSD site; retrieved May 19, 2009
3. ^ (Romanian) Florin Ciornei, "'PSD, un 'dosar' greu pentru procurorul Victor Ponta" ("PSD, a Difficult 'Dossier' for Prosecutor Victor Ponta"), Evenimentul Zilei, 22 February 2010; accessed July 13, 2010
4. ^ (Romanian) Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site; retrieved May 19, 2009
5. ^ (Romanian) Election results, alegeri.tv; retrieved May 19, 2009
6. ^ (Romanian) Mircea Marian, "Un deputat a dormit într-un an la hotel 492 de nopţi" ("In a Year, a Deputy Slept 492 Nights in a Hotel"), Adevărul, 26 July 2005; retrieved May 19, 2009
7. ^ ^{a b} (Romanian) Iulian Rinder, "Confruntare în colegiul milionarilor" ("Confrontation in the Millionaires' College"), România Liberă, 26 November 2008; retrieved May 19, 2009
8. ^ (Romanian) "Deputatul Constantin Niţă dezminte că are legături cu Mafia italiană" ("The Deputy Constantin Niţă Denies Having Links to the Italian Mafia"), Ziua, 1 February 2002; retrieved May 19, 2009
9. ^ (Romanian) "Guvern de regăţeni, cu 'moţ' ardelean" ("Old Kingdom Government, with a Few Transylvanians"), Adevărul, 19 December 2008; retrieved May 19, 2009
10. ^ (Romanian) "Constantin Niţă îşi deleagă atribuţiile de conducere de la PSD Braşov" ("Constantin Niţă Delegates His PSD Braşov Leadership Duties"), Mediafax, 21 December 2008; retrieved May 19, 2009
11. ^ (Romanian) "Niţă: Aproape 40 la sută dintre IMM-uri ar putea da faliment" ("Niţă: Almost 40% of Small and Medium Enterprises Could Go Bankrupt"), Mediafax, 12 February 2009; retrieved May 19, 2009
12. ^ (Romanian) Adriana Rosoga, "Constantin Niţă, ministrul pentru IMM-uri: Atragem puţini bani şi pentru prea puţine firme" ("Constantin Niţă, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises: We Attract Little Money and for too Few Firms"), Ziarul Financiar, 9 January 2009; retrieved May 19, 2009
13. ^ (Romanian) "Miniştrii PSD şi-au depus demisiile la cabinetul premierului Emil Boc" ("PSD Ministers Submit Their Resignations in the Office of Prime Minister Emil Boc"), Mediafax, 1 October 2009; accessed October 1, 2009

External links

• (Romanian) Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site

Persondata
Name	Nita, Constantin
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Date of birth	November 27, 1955
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